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Artist News Gigs & Festivals
Barbican details Transcender festival
By Aly Barchi | Published on Tuesday 6 May 2014
Listing details have appeared for this year’s Transcender, which is the London-based Barbican’s shape-shifting festival of international psychedelia, which takes place between 26 Sep and 1 Oct. And wouldn’t you just like to know what those are?
Well, here, try this series of events for size. Transcender 2014 commences (at The Laundry, in Hackney) with the first ever British appearance by the 28 member Fire! Orchestra, a Swedish ensemble led by Wildbirds & Peacedrums’ Andreas Weliin, who improvise a combo of cosmic jazz, avant-rock, garage and devotional chanting. So basically, it’s going to be groovy.
Also on the programme are the Britten Simphonia, who’ll do the world’s first performance of late composer John Tavener’s last major work ‘Flood Of Beauty’. It’s inspired by a Sanskrit ode to feminine beauty and divinity written by ninth century philosopher-poet Sankara, and will have small choirs and musicians placed around the Barbican hall in order, said Tavener, to encircle the audience with “bliss and beauty”.
Go to the Barbican site to mine the ins-and-outs of the bill, which also includes ‘Sahara Soul II’ – a tribute to the music of North Africa’s nomadic communities – and closes with a show from Iranian folk virtuosos The Kamkars.